So Far Check Cashing a No Lose Proposition for Missouri League

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Some in the credit union industry may wonder about credit unions cashing checks for the public at large, but the Missouri Credit Union Association’s shared branching network has found it a winning proposition all around. The network’s two check cashing branches run by the MCUA have cashed more than 4,000 checks for the general public and experienced no losses since the practice began in 2001. Mark Hohenstein, vice president of the MCUA attributed the no loss record largely to the policy of only cashing government checks and payroll checks. “We don’t cash personal or third-party checks so that likely cuts the loss potential quite a bit,” he said. The Association got involved in check cashing after Hohenstein attended a briefing at which a researcher from the Filene Research Institute asked for a shared branching network to get involved with check cashing. Since then, it has been a rousing success, he said. In 2004 alone, he said, the two branches cashed almost $1 million worth of checks.